Dreadnought class
in 2259 |owner = |operator = Starfleet Section 31 |Type = Dreadnought |Active = 2259 |Armament = Phasers, torpedo launchers, drones with photon torpedoes |Defenses = Deflector shields }} The Dreadnought-class was an experimental class of dreadnought warships designed by Section 31 of Starfleet with the help of . The only known vessel of this class, the , was launched from a secret facility orbiting Io in 2259. ( ) Design General overview The Dreadnought-class was roughly two times the size of a starship. The USS Vengeance was specially modified for a minimal crew. The class had advanced warp capabilities. ( ) Configuration Bridge The bridge of the ship was small and cramped compared to the more spacious bridge of the Constitution-class. It was designed to be run by the captain single-handedly if necessary. It was possible to operate the navigation and propulsion of the ship with only simple voice commands. Also in stark contrast to the Enterprise bridge, the Dreadnought s bridge was very dark - in lieu of bright lighting and shining white walls, the bridge was largely black, though still well lit. ( ) Engineering Engineering was designed so that it could run autonomously if needed. Like the bridge, the engineering section was cramped and painted in shining black. The interior featured a more refined design compared with the engineering section on the - for example, there were no coolant pipes or mains directly accessible by the crew. ( ) Sensors Ships of this class were equipped with multidimensional radar and space region observer systems. ( ) Transport and Cargo A ship of this class had at least seven hangars. Hangar 7 was located on Deck 13. ( ) Tactical systems Khan was involved with designing the weapons for the Dreadnought-class. The weapons were significantly more advanced than contemporary Constitution-class weaponry. While most other Starfleet ships were designed for exploration and research, the Dreadnought-class ships were designed solely for combat. The deflector dish could be covered by protective armor plates while the ship was not traveling at warp speeds to defend the dish from damage during a battle. The ship was extremely durable in design and could remain intact even after the internal detonation of 72 photon torpedoes. The weapon systems included an array of advanced phaser emitters. The powerful discharges from these weapons arced indirectly at the target and could be fired while the ship was at warp. Single hits could penetrate through the shields and cause major hull breaches to a Constitution-class starship. The weapon systems also included two massive swivel-mounted torpedo launchers that could be deployed from under the saucer section from behind protective armor plating. They could rotate and launch a volley of torpedoes at various firing arcs from aft to forward of the ship. A Dreadnought-class ship could also launch drones that in turn were capable of launching several photon torpedoes before crashing into a target. ( ) Propulsion systems The Dreadnought-class featured two angular warp drive nacelles, unlike previous Starfleet ships that had featured cylindrical nacelles. The Vengeance was described by Khan as having "three times the speed" of the Enterprise. The Dreadnought-class ship had the capability of tracking down and attacking a fleeing enemy ship while at warp speed. ( ) in its refit for , that according to the reference book also made the Enterprise more than three times faster compared to warp factor 8, in the warp scale, with a maximum velocity of warp factor 12.}} Ships commissioned * Appendices See also * Background information Screenwriter of Star Trek Into Darkness, Roberto Orci suggested on Twitter that USS Vengeance had a countermeasure against transwarp beaming, hence Harrison fled to Qo'noS instead of commandeering the Vengeance directly. https://twitter.com/boborci/status/340657705213636609 Apocrypha According to a comic book Who's Who in Star Trek, Issue 2, a class of Federation starships called the also existed in the prime universe. Category:Federation starship classes